Your strategy for finding the lowest price on Princess

[Tapi]

Hello everybody!

 

I'm fully aware that we can't mention TA's on these boards, but what I'm looking for is what your strategy is to find the lowest price specifically on Princess.

 

I booked my Alaska 2011 cruise directly on the Princess site as soon as pricing became available since I wanted a specific ship, sailing and cabin. Now I'm looking at finding lower pricing once pricing becomes available through TA's and travel sites.

 

My last few cruises have been on Carnival using the interline rate, for which I can call Carnival directly and the interline rate matches the lowest rate offered through interline travel sites. Pretty easy and it takes away the "fun" (or hassle depending on how you look at it) of searching and comparing different sites.

 

What's your experience with Princess? Have you found better pricing by booking directly, through an internet site? local TA? any other options? What's your technique to find the lowest price?

 

Thanks for your response to my highly subjective question!

[kywildcatfanone]

I have booked directly through princess.com, an online travel agent, and a TA whom I pick up the phone and call. All three have worked fine for me.

 

How do you find the best rate? Shop around. Check various travel web sites, and seek out TA's who specialize in cruising. How much you can save depends on the cabin type you are looking for. I read on here where some people talk about the thousands they save through their TA, but they are also booking the most expensive cabin categories. If you are booking the cheapest inside category, I would suspect you could save a few dollars through a TA.

 

When I book, I check princess.com, a few travel sites online, and contact my TA. In the short time I have used a specific TA, she has always given me the best price by at least a few dollars, along with some kind of perk (OBC or Coupon book usually).

 

Good luck, looking is have the fun, as you say.

 

Mike

[utseabee]

This is our first cruise. I called Princess to see if they offered a military discount (I never expect one, but always ask, just in case.)

The agent at Princess told that they do not offer a discount, but gave us the name of a travel agent that does.

MUCH better than Celebriy's answer of "Well, we do, but you will have to check the website every day to see if one is offfered on your sailing, and then call back and have us apply the discounted rate."

[RealDeal]

A good TA should be able to discount Princess's best price by about 10% (sometimes more), plus oftentimes offer OBC. Just be careful, as some do charge cancellation fees.

 

If you use a TA, I suggest calling Princess and confirming the details of your reservation afterward, as mistakes do happen!

[Colo Cruiser]

This is our first cruise. I called Princess to see if they offered a military discount (I never expect one, but always ask, just in case.)

The agent at Princess told that they do not offer a discount, but gave us the name of a travel agent that does.

MUCH better than Celebriy's answer of "Well, we do, but you will have to check the website every day to see if one is offfered on your sailing, and then call back and have us apply the discounted rate."

 

Correct...

There is no military discount for Princess.

[Duck Duck Cruise]

We use a TA who is a cruise specialist and her agency books a lot of cruises through Princess. We book as early as we can and then check the website prices daily and then call her if we see a price drop for our category of cabin on our cruise.

 

We have always received the price reduction without having OBC that she has given us when we booked reduced.

 

Not all TA's will do this but ours does.

 

We play a game of who will discover the reduced price first...us...or her.

Generally, she finds out about them from us (since we check them every single day) although she has found them for us previously too. She also has the inside information on when Princess is offering a free pre-night stay in a nice hotel or any other perk and lets us know about them.

 

That is why we use her. The prices she gives us are always the lowest we have been able to find....and believe me, we do research everywhere. It also helps that we book 2 - 3 cruises every year through her.

[1cruiselvr]

If you use a TA, I suggest calling Princess and confirming the details of your reservation afterward, as mistakes do happen!

 

Once your booking is turned over to a TA, Princess will not discuss it directly with you, as your TA now represents you. So this statement is not accurate. BUT you can use the cruise personalizer on Princess to make sure your booking is correct. Then call your TA if you need something changed. Happy Sailing!

[BalconyGal]

We use a TA who is a cruise specialist and her agency books a lot of cruises through Princess. We book as early as we can and then check the website prices daily and then call her if we see a price drop for our category of cabin on our cruise.

. The prices she gives us are always the lowest we have been able to find.

 

 

Ditto for us!

[sabookkeeper]

Hello everybody!

 

I'm fully aware that we can't mention TA's on these boards, but what I'm looking for is what your strategy is to find the lowest price specifically on Princess.

 

I booked my Alaska 2011 cruise directly on the Princess site as soon as pricing became available since I wanted a specific ship, sailing and cabin. Now I'm looking at finding lower pricing once pricing becomes available through TA's and travel sites.

 

My last few cruises have been on Carnival using the interline rate, for which I can call Carnival directly and the interline rate matches the lowest rate offered through interline travel sites. Pretty easy and it takes away the "fun" (or hassle depending on how you look at it) of searching and comparing different sites.

 

What's your experience with Princess? Have you found better pricing by booking directly, through an internet site? local TA? any other options? What's your technique to find the lowest price?

 

Thanks for your response to my highly subjective question!

When we were on our cruise in January we booked our 2011 cruise because we wanted a specific cabin and we new it was a cabin that goes quickly (aft balcony). After coming home, we started checking online for prices. I found one that was considerably less that what Princess was showing so I contacted them. The TA transferred my booking and we retained the cabin that we booked. In addition to paying less, we also received a $75 OBC. So if you find a TA with a better price, check it and out and see if you can keep the cabin you booked.

 

Darlene

[mkkao924]

A good TA should be able to discount Princess's best price by about 10% (sometimes more), plus oftentimes offer OBC. Just be careful, as some do charge cancellation fees.

 

If you use a TA, I suggest calling Princess and confirming the details of your reservation afterward, as mistakes do happen!

 

That's a very good index. Thank you!

 

Can someone else give us your "best deal" ratio compared between TA and Princess? I think this will help a lot of people, including me, to find the competitive rate.

[bhopal21]

That's a very good index. Thank you!

 

Can someone else give us your "best deal" ratio compared between TA and Princess? I think this will help a lot of people, including me, to find the competitive rate.

 

Just looking at our booking for the Alaska cruise in August we saved just at 13% over the Princess web site pricing.

 

Some will depend on your cabin category, so you have to take that into effect.

 

Mike:)

[Pam in CA]

Ditto for us!

Ditto for us, too.

 

Find a good TA that does a lot of Princess bookings or specializes in Princess. Not only will you get the best pricing but you'll also get the most knowledgeable responses to questions. Probably better than Princess Customer Service.

[moonbee73]

How you do go about finding a TA that specilizes in Princess or cruises? Is this a question that they are willing to answer?

[Woobstr112G]

An individual T/A, imho, can't be beat. I did three in a row directly through princess before I wised up. Spent way too much money.....

 

Bob

[1cruiselvr]

How you do go about finding a TA that specilizes in Princess or cruises? Is this a question that they are willing to answer?

 

I don't think you need a TA that specializes in Princess. My online TA does most of the CLs so whatever CL I plan to sail, I always ask for a quote. I don't think there is such a thing as a TA that specializes in a certain CL. They all get the same pricing from them. It's just about how much they are willing to discount is my opinion. Happy Sailing!

[WestCoastCruzinator]

This is our first cruise. I called Princess to see if they offered a military discount (I never expect one, but always ask, just in case.)

The agent at Princess told that they do not offer a discount, but gave us the name of a travel agent that does.

MUCH better than Celebriy's answer of "Well, we do, but you will have to check the website every day to see if one is offfered on your sailing, and then call back and have us apply the discounted rate."

 

Though your TA may offer you a military discount its really just a lower price that they probably would give anyone as an onboard credit or a differently labeled discount anyway. Celebrity does offer a true military discount that others can't get but it is only offered on select sailings so you have to look for it or as I do suscribe to an internet TA thats sends auto emails listing the cruises have the discount. Some of them are very substantial, I have seen up to $350 pp discounts on balcony cabins.

 

Unfortunatly there are many "tricks" to getting the best price and it can be tough for a new cruiser to do.

[WestCoastCruzinator]

I don't think you need a TA that specializes in Princess. My online TA does most of the CLs so whatever CL I plan to sail, I always ask for a quote. I don't think there is such a thing as a TA that specializes in a certain CL. They all get the same pricing from them. It's just about how much they are willing to discount is my opinion. Happy Sailing!

 

All TA's do not get the same pricing from Princess is what I have been led to believe. As with auto dealerships TA's get volumne discounts and discounts for "blocks" of cabins they reserve for resale from cruise lines.

[Putterdude]

We ordinarily book about 18 months out so as to get the cabin we want. We first check the cruise lines price, online TA's pricing then we contact our TA who's company only does cruises; he always has the best price and if the price drops over time then he gets it for us.

Having said that, last week a Princess promotion caught our eye for a cruise. We contacted our TA, he had sharper pricing then Princess did but Princess said the cabin we wanted were all booked. So the next day I called Princess myself and low and behold a number of the type of cabins we available....these were cabins that could accommodate 4 people and Princess will hold them back from the market. We booked a b/b and then contacted our TA who had a lower price in his "group fare" plus some OBCs, we are now transferring the booking to our TA.

[Duck Duck Cruise]

And in my daily checking yesterday our cabin category went down $50 per person. Contacted my TA. Got our price lowered another $50 per person today. And we're still paying quite a bit less than the Princess price.

 

Gotta Love Her!

[Pam in CA]

All TA's do not get the same pricing from Princess is what I have been led to believe. As with auto dealerships TA's get volumne discounts and discounts for "blocks" of cabins they reserve for resale from cruise lines.

This is true which is why I always recommend finding a TA who specializes in or books a lot of Princess cruises.

[Feelin' Nauti']

Usually the best bargains come from travel agents who specialize in cruises or from cruise brokers or consolidators who buy blocks of cabins and sell them at a discount.

[Iamcruzin]

Even the Future cruise Rep suggested that I book through a TA rather than direct. She looked up the TA that I had booked with for the sailing we were on and informed me that my TA had a large block of rooms. A good place to start would be to use the Travel Agent Locator on the Princess site. When I returned home I looked up my TA and found out that the agency is a Commodore Certified Travel Agency. This is a Travel Agency location that has encouraged its staff to excel to the highest standards of Princess Cruises product knowledge. That being said on my last sailing this agency could not match the price that Princess was offering. So I booked direct.

http://www.princess.com/book/agent/index.jsp

[tampatoms]

I booked direct with Princess for Alaska May 2011 to get specific cabins. Then I called a local Commodore Certified Travel Agency and explained situation and asked if they could better the booking, $$ and perks. The agent said to turn over booking and she would see what she could do.

I may be dumb but at least I stood back up after I fell off of the turnip wagon.

 

tampatoms